The disclosures herein relate generally to computer chassis and more particularly to an access panel attached to the chassis and including a single point release mechanism for unlatching the panel from the chassis.
A typical computer enclosure is usually made up of a chassis, one or more covers, and a bezel, which is the front cosmetic cover of the computer system. There are many combinations of these elements in current computer hardware components. In any enclosure, the ease with which the covers and the bezel can be assembled and removed are important for manufacturability, serviceability and customer satisfaction.
Many computers have covers and bezels which are fastened in place with hardware such as screws. An immediate gain in manufacturability, serviceability and customer satisfaction can be gained by using integral snaps which are easily engaged and released. The main benefit is that a tool is not needed to gain access to the internal components or bays of the computer. There are many computer housings which utilize snaps and hooks in the bezel and covers to provide these added benefits. However, not every enclosure can be easily outfitted with such devices. Due to a variety of issues with how the covers and bezel must be assembled or removed from the system and how the components must be integrated with the chassis, the possibility of adding snap-on/snap-off functionality is limited.
In accordance with one attempted solution to the above-mentioned problem, a tower unit housing for a computer system has been provided including a rectangular box-like chassis which receives a front bezel, an L-shaped hood to cover the top and one side of the chassis and a side member to cover the other side of the chassis. The chassis includes a security tab which is aligned with a hood security tab and a side cover security tab when the hood and side cover are installed on the chassis, such that openings in the tabs can receive a single lock to lock the entire unit together. The front bezel includes its own security tab which extends into a pin connection inside of the chassis such that the pin connection between the bezel and the chassis is hidden by the side cover when the side cover and L-shaped hood are installed on the chassis. In this manner, a single lock can secure the front bezel and the L-shaped hood and the side cover from unauthorized disassembly.
Another enclosure is characterized by a sheet-metal chassis, two cosmetic cover panels and a separate front panel. Each cover panel covers half of the chassis top and one of the sides. The bezel covers the front of the chassis and has openings for the accessible drive bays as well as buttons for interfacing with the computer control panel. To save shipping costs and reduce the time and cost of assembly in the manufacturing process, the right side cover of the chassis is designed to be shipped as part of an assembly with the chassis. The fixed nature of the right side cover combined with some of the internal bracketry of the chassis create accessibility problems to many points in the chassis.
The limited accessibility discussed above precludes using a traditional approach for snapping the bezel in place during assembly and removing the bezel for service or upgrades by a customer. The problem is magnified by the specifics of the bezel tooling which greatly reduces the design flexibility. The problem is that of providing a method for reliably securing the bezel by having multiple closure points, yet being able to release the bezel from an easily accessible location without the use of special tools or the need for specialized knowledge of the closure detail.
Therefore, what is needed is a computer chassis including an access panel having multiple interlocks attaching the panel to the chassis and a single release operably connected to release the interlocks from the chassis.